This week’s had quite a few ups and downs. Work was amazingly productive, even if there were a few pretty long days after the long weekend. I’ve gotten some encouraging medical news, and making progress in a couple of different areas, even if the side effects of this new pill I’m on are inconvenient. We […]

Another seven days passed, another bunch of hours worked, another list of chores done, another bunch of miles hiked and pedaled, another few beers quaffed…this week’s been actually pretty standard. I guess that’s not entirely true, as those hours worked involved a lot of serious, but honestly pretty fulfilling requirements planning to hand to the […]

This work week’s been kind of a whiplash-inducing experience, starting with a two-day “retreat” during which my work team did a bunch of decidedly not-work things; like guided meditation, painting, ice-breaker games, and going out to a nice dinner; to focus on the importance of self-care and engage in some team-building. It was…pleasant. It also […]

So, I’m a few days back at work after a week-and-a-half break that included all kinds of interesting things, including, as mentioned previously, my debut as a solo performer guest at Dragoncon. That adventure, overall, went pretty well. I played some solid shows, got some nice reviews, saw some old friends, made some new ones, […]

Today is kind of a big deal. Today, I turn fifty years old. Neither of the previous Charles Parkers made it this far. It feels kind of weird to be here. This is, oddly enough, uncharted territory. I am, in a lot of ways, at least below the neck, in the best shape of my […]

This week’s been less than optimal for several reasons. Taking the day off for some medical stuff that I’m stressed enough about left me with almost eighty emails to sort through this morning, and getting up at all this morning felt awful because yesterday felt at all times exactly like Saturday. All that busy probably […]

So I haven’t done one of these in a while. I’ve had a rough couple of months. Really busy time at work, some personal health challenges, some communal health challenges (hello, COVID round two!) that killed some much-anticipated plans (goodbye, ConGregate), some puppy growing pains, and a national and global political situation that’s been looking […]

This space has been pretty quiet for the last little while; not much but playlists most weeks and complaining about work stuff. That’s honestly been the standard agenda with life lately, and I’m tired of repeating myself. Also, it’s just been busy; long hours, getting yanked into unpleasant temporary supervisory stuff, and I’d rather sit […]

Bureaucratic Talking Shutdown Blues – 2023 edition by Chuck Parker Assuming all goes well and the Freedom Caucus and Senator Rand Paul don’t decide to shake things up, the CR that expires at midnight tonight will be succeeded by a full half-year official budget for my half of the Federal Government, and we won’t shut […]

My first (of six) weeks playing the boss for the team at work is wrapping up. It’s actually been a bit less stressful than I expected. I’ve not been *not* stressed (especially in the early part of the week), but it’s not been a complete disaster. I also managed to move some of my own […]